NextPrevious

Art Principles and History

Art Fundamentals

What is a drawing?

Drawing is a form of graphic art often done in pencil, charcoal, crayon, or ink on paper. Usually, drawings are black and white and feature images composed of lines; however, the definition of a drawing is fairly flexible and has changed a great deal over time. During the early Renaissance, drawings were associated with the fragile media they were made on and were not considered completed works of art. Drawings were used as preparatory sketches and a way for an artist to share ideas with a patron. It wasn’t until the later Renaissance that drawings started to stand on their own as works of art.



Close

This is a web preview of the "The Handy Art History Answer Book" app. Many features only work on your mobile device. If you like what you see, we hope you will consider buying. Get the App